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The following are the highest priority items in Thom's review queue at the moment:

Nikkor 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 DX

Nikkor 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5

Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art

Sigma 20mm f/1.4 Art

Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art

Sigma 135mm f/1.4 Art

Sony A7 Mark III

Sony A7R Mark III

Sony 12-24mm f/4

Sony 24-105mm f/4

Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM

January 2017

January 31

Canon News. First up, and probably of most importance to this site's readers, Canon has produced a 148 page PDF file AF Setting Guidebook for the 1Dx Mark II. Meanwhile, Canon reported their full 2016 Fiscal Year results today. The news won't be happy news for anyone except Canon users. Article on dslrbodies.com

January 30

Macroeconomics and Cameras. I've tackled the micro/macroeconomic landscape as it pertains to our camera gear before, but it's probably a good time to update my thoughts. I write these articles because readers of this site are constantly trying to time and juggle purchase decisions. Buy now, or buy later when it goes on sale? Article on dslrbodies.com

How Many Decisions Do You Make? Trying to keep a balance between writing about things that are gear-related (e.g. reviews) versus things that are use-related (e.g. technique) is something that I've been juggling going way back into the 1970's, first with filmmaking, then computers, then with the outdoors, and these days with photography.But it isn't an either/or game. It's all part of the same game. Article on dslrbodies.comJanuary 24

Starting from Scratch. I'm getting more and more "what would you do if you were starting from scratch?" type questions these days. The number of these questions I get seems inversely proportional to the camera unit volume shipped by Japan, which is indicative of a restlessness in the dedicated photo enthusiast. It's as if they're asking "is that all we're going to get?" Article on dslrbodies.com

January 23

Good Enough in a Bad Way. “It’s really hard to tell the difference between the two.” Uh, no. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen this statement now on the Web, and the most recent time by someone doing an exhaustive preview between an older and newer model of a camera. Article on dslrbodies.com

Someone recently asked me where an article I had written was. Good question. Turns out it was an ephemeral front-page series that had never made it over to dslrbodies in the Technique section. So, without further ado, here's a rewrite of what was once "You Week" back in 2010:

Your Turn to Get Better. I've written a lot about equipment and business, but let's not forget the real center of attention. That would be you, the photographer. This article is going to spend some time dealing with the human side of photography. Article on dslrbodies.com (Technique/Technique Articles/Improving the Photographer section)

Meanwhile, the recent introduction of the Hasselblad X1D and Fujifilm GFX had me rewriting the Pick a Size article over on sansmirror.com (Articles section).

January 19

Fujifilm Officially Launches GFX, Adds X-T20. Fujifilm unleashed a wide range of products today. One was the official launch of the GFX, which includes pricing and availability information (the product was introduced back at Photokina, though with incomplete specifications). Another was the follow-up to the X-T10, the X-T20. Article on sansmirror.com

Leica Launches M10 Camera. At first glance, the M10 is obviously a Leica rangefinder. Leica hasn't abandoned the large soap bar shape or viewfinder at edge-of-camera style that has distinguished the line for almost its entire decades-long history. Most of the changes are subtle, but important. Article on sansmirror.com

Attempting SnapBridge Professionally. Back when the D500 and SnapBridge were first introduced, I wanted to test the notion that Nikon had finally delivered something useful to the professional photographer who wanted to be timely. Part of this desire derives from the presentation I made to Nikon executives back in 2010 and the suggestions that I made to them then, several of which centered on photojournalism and sports shooter workflow. I wanted to find out if Nikon delivered what I asked for (not just for myself, but on the behalf of many others). Early last year I scheduled a sports shoot for shortly after my D500 was to arrive only to find that SnapBridge wasn't all there yet. Article on dslrbodies.com

January 17

Nikon's Slow Failure in Japan. BCN has released their year-end retail sales rankings for the Japanese market for 2016. While the mirrorless numbers get written about a lot, the DSLR numbers are even more illuminating. Article on dslrbodies.com

Japanese Mirrorless Market Shares. BCN has released their year-end retail sales rankings for the Japanese market for 2016, and as usual it's provoking a lot of whipped up Internet forum frenzy across the sites that cover mirrorless. Artricle on sansmirror.comJanuary 10

When 100 is Actually 99.5. Almost exactly 99.5 years later Nikon has chosen to begin celebrating their 100th anniversary. Nikon now has their 100th Anniversary Web site active, though it really has very little on it other than two movies, a simplified product timeline, and a few additional pointers at the moment. Article on dslrbodies.com

January 9

Photography has become Bipolar. I’m amused by the bipolar nature that’s becoming more and more clear on the Internet regarding cameras. It seems there are two schools of though. Article on dslrbodies.com

What's With the US$2000 Cameras? US$2000 seems to be the go to enthusiast price point for the Japanese camera makers. D500, GH5, E-M1 Mark II, the list goes on, and in the last year it seems like every high-end enthusiast camera gets that pricing. Even cameras like the A6500 and X-T2 are sneaking up towards that point and bound to get there. Article on dslrbodies.com

What I Want to Still Do Photographically. It’s that time of year when you should be thinking about what you managed in the past year, and what you want to accomplish in the current one. For me, I’m trying something a little different for 2017. I’ve tried to come up with a different photographic situation for every month of the year. Article on dslrbodies.com

January 6

An Old Favorite Returns. The company formed as part of the spinout of Kodak's pension plan, Alaris, has announced that they intend to bring back Ektachrome, a film that was discontinued back in 2012. Article on filmbodies.com

Nikon Professional Services Renewals. NikonUSA has issued emails to NPS members asking them to renew their membership. Article on dslrbodies.com

Nikon's Mirrorless Options. it's only a matter of time before Nikon opens up a new defense in the mirrorless realm. The simple matter of truth is this: Nikon is a camera company (over 60% of their revenues and even more of their profits). Not competing in the healthiest of the camera markets is suicide. So what are Nikon's options? I identify five basic approaches Nikon could take. Article on sansmirror.com (News/Views)

Nikon's New Year Resolutions. Management at Nikon is hopefully waking up from a dismal 2016 and realizing that they have to change something. Here are my suggestions of things that should be on their 2017 Resolutions List. Article on dslrbodies.com (News/Views)

What I Want From Mirrorless in 2017. This is a good point to assess what it is we really want from each mirrorless system in a more general way rather than call out specific products and features. We're almost 10 years into the mirrorless era after all, so it's a good time to get out of the weeds, move to higher ground, and survey what we really wish for in the future. So here's my wish list for each mirrorless camera brand in 2017. Article on sansmirror.com (News/Views)

January 2

An Assigment for the New Year. I can’t take credit for the idea, as the original assignment suggestion came from Adobe wizard and evangelist Russell Brown last year. But as usual, Dr. Brown had a very valid reason behind his idea. Article on dslrbodies.com (News/Views)

Don't Get Hung Up on Lens Zoom Factors. I see a lot of posts and comments about focal length, in particular zoom ratios of lenses (also called the zoom factor). With a number of recent wide angle lenses, sometimes these comments get really out of whack with reality. Article on dslrbodies.com (in Lenses/Lens Articles/Focal Length)

A Few More Words on Mirrorless. My recent article provoked a few emails I need to respond to, and in addition to doing so privately I thought it worthwhile to add a couple of thoughts to my previous article. Article on sansmirror.com (News/Views)